Direct lineage to Kits 25866, 56149, 159449, 189297 & 224242

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RYS AP RYDDERCH, of Castle Howell, or Hywel, owner of Gilvachwen Pantstreimon, and other lands in the parish of Llandyssil, Cardiganshire, is the first of this family of whom there appears to be authentic record. Pedigrees by Lewis Dwnn and others, copied from older genealogies, or gathered from traditions preserved by descendants, agree in stating that he was son of Rydderch ap Kydivor ap Dinwal, which Kydivor is said to have married Katharine, a daughter of “Lord Rys,” Prince of South Wales, who was commissioned by King Henry I., in 1169, to be Chief Justice of that country, and who died 21 April, 1197. (Dwnn I. 28, 37, 65, 80, 227).

Kydivor ap Dinwal is said to have taken by escalade, for his father-in-law, the Castle of Cardigan, for which feat of arms the said “Lord Rys,” it is claimed, bestowed upon him Castle Howell and the other lands mentioned, in the parish of Llandysill, and caused a grant to be made him of the arms borne by his descendants, viz:—Sable, a spear-head embrued between three scaling-ladders, argent; on a chief gules a castle tripple turreted of the second.

The facts are that Castle Howell and the lands above named were the possessions of descendants of “Lord Rys” in the male line for a long time, and, in 1275, belonged to Owen ap Meredith, Lord of the Manor of Llandyssil, who died in that year. Under any circumstances, the approximate date of the marriage claimed with “Lord Rys’” daughter, and the probable date of birth and of marriage of Rys ap Rydderch, exclude the possibility that the latter could have been Kydivor's grandson. We must conclude, therefore, that this is one of those cases so often found in Welsh genealogy in which “ap” stands for descendant of and not for son of. Rys ap Rydderch was living about the Month of May, 1309, and married Gwenllian, daughter of Llewelyn ap Owen, Lord of the Manor of Llandyssil, one of the Superior Lords of South Wales, and the representative of the Princes of that country. Llewelyn ap Owen was the son of Owen ap Meredith, who died 15 August, 1275, by Anghared or Agaret, daughter of Owen ap Meredith, Lord of Kedewen.

It appears certain that Rys ap Rydderch obtained Castle Howell, and the other lands mentioned, as a marriage portion from his father-in-law, and also that Gwenllian was by a former wife of Llewelyn ap Owen, whom he married when under age and that she was born about 1279 or 1280.

The village of Llandyssil is beautifully situated on a reach of the river Teivy, and on a hill above the church are the small remains of the castle which was the baronial residence of Llewelyn ap Owen, above mentioned, his father, and his descendants. Castle Howell, or Hywel, stood near the river Clattwr, and the foundation may yet be traced. The descendants of Rys ap Rydderch, however, built another residence nearby, which, in after years, came to be called by the same name, and, after its destruction by fire, a third mansion was erected, near the same site, which is still standing, but used for many years, now, as a farm house.

Rys ap Rydderch had issue by Gwenllian, his wife:

1. Griffith Gôch, who had the lands of Castle Howell, and continued the line there. He was ancestor to Thomas Griffith, Esquire, Lord of the Manor of Lampeter, and his wife was Kathrine, daughter of Sir Elidir Ddu, Knight of the Holy Sepulcher. (Dwnn, I, 27, 52, 228, &c.)

2. Rys Voel, who had the lands called Pantstriemon, where his descendants reside to this day. (Dwnn, I, 38, &c.)

3. Richard ap Rys, of whom presently.

4. Kydifor ap Rys. (Dwnn, I, 187).

The record above is taken from The Pedigree, a privately-published genealogy of William, John and Griffith Griffith(s), researched and written by Thomas Allen Glenn, commissioned by Foster C. Griffith about 1900.

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